--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Several people, not just reviewers, took…" description: "\"Several people, not just reviewers, took me to task for writing about what they called the working classes - something I've been doing for 40 years. I ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/martin-amis-704_about_several-people-not-just-reviewers-took-m_2656226.jpg" --- # Several people, not just reviewers, took me to task for… ![“Several people, not just reviewers, took me to task for writing about what they called the working classes - something I've been doing for 40 years. I thought that was contemptible - what do they want to do, ghettoize the working class as a subject? Can you only write about your own class? I've…” quote by Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/martin-amis-704_about_several-people-not-just-reviewers-took-m_2656226.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/martin-amis-704_about_several-people-not-just-reviewers-took-m_2656226.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/martin-amis-704_about_several-people-not-just-reviewers-took-m_2656226.jpg) > “Several people, not just reviewers, took me to task for writing about what they called the working classes - something I've been doing for 40 years. I thought that was contemptible - what do they want to do, ghettoize the working class as a subject? Can you only write about your own class? I've written about royalty, am I not allowed to do that?” [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Classical critique can be seen as limiting, but writers may explore any social group. **In simple terms:** Writers can write about any class. Key Takeaway Explore diverse perspectives. Themes class representation authorial freedom Mood defensive thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - journalism - academic essays Key Concepts social critique literary tradition Questions to Reflect On - Should writers prioritize authenticity? - How to balance representation and imagination? A Different Perspective Risk of alienating audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Allowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allowed/) [Am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/am/) [Been](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/been/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Classes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classes/) [Contemptible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemptible/) [Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing/) [Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just/) [Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/me/) [Only](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/only/) [Own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/own/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reviewers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reviewers/) [Royalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/royalty/) [Several](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/several/) [Something](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something/) [Subject](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subject/) [Subject Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subject-write-1255317/) [Task](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/task/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/took/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Working](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working/) [Working class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/) [Working Classes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-classes-986555/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-class-1004631/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Called](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-called-2389968/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) [Your](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your/) ## Related quotes > [I didn't go into 'Rabbit Hole' wanting to write about class. I think because of who I am it somehow found its way into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lindsay-abaire/i-didn-t-go-into-rabbit-hole-wanting-to-write-about-class-i-think/) [David Lindsay-Abaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lindsay-abaire/) > [I've never written nearly as much about place as people seem to think I do. I just write about class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-russo/i-ve-never-written-nearly-as-much-about-place-as-people-seem-to-think/) [Richard Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-russo/) > [I write exactly what I think. If it's a raw subject, I write lots of things and then pull out all the fluff words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fka-twigs/i-write-exactly-what-i-think-if-it-s-a-raw-subject-i-write-lots-of/) [FKA twigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fka-twigs/) > [When I write, I love finding connections between ideas. 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You can't expect your readers to feel any excitement if it's nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/you-have-to-have-passion-for-a-subject-to-write-about-it-you-can-t/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) > [The worst fault of the working classes is telling their children they're not going to succeed, saying: There is life, but it's not for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mortimer/the-worst-fault-of-the-working-classes-is-telling-their-children-they-2/) [John Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mortimer/) > [Ultimately, imperialism made even the British working classes suffer. 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He wanted to reach as many people as possible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-maclean/it-s-very-interesting-to-read-why-cornelius-cardew-became/) [Alasdair MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-maclean/) > [Ive had the best possible chance of learning that what the working-classes really need is to be allowed some part in the direction of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/ive-had-the-best-possible-chance-of-learning-that-what-the-working/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [“All of them agreed that the working-classes must be kept in their place; and all of them perceived that American Democracy did not imply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/all-of-them-agreed-that-the-working-classes-must-be-kept-in-their/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [The worst fault of the working classes is telling their children they're not going to succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mortimer/the-worst-fault-of-the-working-classes-is-telling-their-children-they/) [John Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mortimer/) > [The way we look at nineteenth-century English social realism and appreciate the working classes of the emerging industrial revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-piccinini/the-way-we-look-at-nineteenth-century-english-social-realism-and/) [Patricia Piccinini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-piccinini/) > [The working classes were becoming more and more sharply aware of the complex causes of international malaise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-jouhaux/the-working-classes-were-becoming-more-and-more-sharply-aware-of-the/) [Leon Jouhaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-jouhaux/) ## More by Martin Amis > [“Yeah,' I said and started smoking another cigarette. Unless I inform you otherwise, I'm always smoking another cigarette.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/yeah-i-said-and-started-smoking-another-cigarette-unless-i-inform-you/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“barrios; each barrio has two or three gangs, and all the gangs are theoretically”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/barrios-each-barrio-has-two-or-three-gangs-and-all-the-gangs-are/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“If we all downed tools and joined hands for ten minutes and stopped believing in money, then money would no longer exist. We never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/if-we-all-downed-tools-and-joined-hands-for-ten-minutes-and-stopped/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [When I see a lot of young faces in the audience, it's just sort of sinking in how important that is. Because you're old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/when-i-see-a-lot-of-young-faces-in-the-audience-it-s-just-sort-of/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“I was informed by my viscera that now was the time to put my arm around her shoulders. I ignored them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-was-informed-by-my-viscera-that-now-was-the-time-to-put-my-arm/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [You use a different part of your heart with girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/you-use-a-different-part-of-your-heart-with-girls/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [It's becoming clearer and clearer to me that the world is there to be celebrated by writers, and in fact this is what all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/it-s-becoming-clearer-and-clearer-to-me-that-the-world-is-there-to-be/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [In her final months Princess Diana was being shat upon by the tabloids -- basically for sleeping with an Arab. When she died, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/in-her-final-months-princess-diana-was-being-shat-upon-by-the/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [If you feel you have a strong constituency among the young, you can really die happy, because the great unanswered question, the only valid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/if-you-feel-you-have-a-strong-constituency-among-the-young-you-can/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [My life looked good on paper - where, in fact, almost all of it was being lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/my-life-looked-good-on-paper-where-in-fact-almost-all-of-it-was-being/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I say, 'If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children's book', but otherwise the idea of being conscious of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-say-if-i-had-a-serious-brain-injury-i-might-well-write-a-children-s/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [The future could go this way, that way. 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